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Tom Clark

@tomsclark.bsky.social
1.5K followers 161 following 1.1K posts

Political scientist at Stanford University studying law, courts, policing, public safety. Go birds. www.tomclarkphd.com tomsclark.substack.com

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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Wait - the current administration might have given a false pretext to justify hurting someone? I can’t believe it.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16/10/2026
Q: Can you name a time when you voted against Trump and it changed the outcome? SUSAN COLLINS: At one point, I had organized people to vote against Sec. Hegseth. At the very last minute one of our Republicans changed his mind. Otherwise he would've been defeated. Q: So it didn't change the outcome
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Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
Have to be clear just how dangerous this is. If it continues, it effectively removes constitutional rights from an entire class of people. Imagine you had to fear that if you criticize the regime, any error on paperwork filled out by your family decades ago could be used to strip your citizenship.
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Spooky Back From The Dead Lazarus @jlazarus.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
This both answers a question I've had all along (Where is all that Venezuelan oil money *going*?) and is super-duper-extra-ooper unconstitutional. Just like any other arm of the government, the military doesn't get money until and unless Congress says it does.
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Scott Nover @scottnover.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
New: White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia calls herself a lawyer. There’s no evidence she was admitted to practice law in the United States, and legal experts say foreign citizens cannot take the bar in China. My deep dive: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
washingtonpost.com
Katie Zacharia calls herself a lawyer. Legal experts aren’t sure.
There’s no evidence the new White House press secretary was admitted to practice law in the United States.
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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
The largest single Republican donor owns the platform X and uses it to spread false rumors about Democratic candidates. Here's why Bluesky has an intellectual diversity problem.
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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
As the archbishop says, live streaming an execution is barbaric. There’s no other word for it.
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Professa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
You have to “execute” the instruction under the Take Care Clause, not “ignore” the instruction. This is the same twinkly-fairy stuff they pulled in the first Trump impeachment.
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Geoff Brumfiel @gbrumfiel.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The IceCube neutrino detector has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in physics. The Trump administration has proposed slashing its budget in half in 2027.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
incredible this will get little to no coverage
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
In any other time in history.....
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Somehow one of the least surprising scandals of the current administration but yet again an example of something that would get anyone fired and possibly prosecuted in any other line of work.
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
And this is part of why everyone should find it insane that a state can hide how they procure, store, and prepare drugs they use to kill people in the name of the public.
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I have long been convinced that it is important we recognize the death penalty as a violent activity, killing a person. Whether you support or oppose it, you shouldn't hide beyond the delusion that it is some painless punishment done in a compassionate way. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/04/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Christa Pike Has Exposed the Truth About Lethal Injection (Gift Article)
Lethal injection failures are not glitches; they are features of the process.
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Remember that during Trump's first impeachment, Dershowitz offered the defense that the president engaging in illegal or corrupt behavior couldn't be impeachable if he were doing to to cause election outcomes he thought were the right ones for the country. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Directed Use of Taxpayer Money for Ads Praising His Presidency
The government-funded ads show just how much President Trump has been able to use federal money for his own aims.
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I think it's going to be incredibly important to have a period of truth and transparency after we get through this period. We need to know who is enabling human rights abuses so we can make decisions in the future about what role they play in society.
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Matthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
They're holding up a major escalation in Iran and a crackdown on abortion until after the midterms to limit political damage. To the extent that the last two years have been a right-wing smash-and-grab operation, the next two will be worse.
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I call it the reverse Peter principle.
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The idea that one branch of government could endow itself with uncheck-able power to kill people is completely anathema to the country's founding principles.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
LMAO
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I can't count that low.
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
To bottom line this for you, the Supreme Court has allowed Trump to deport people without giving them a hearing, and said "we will consider next year whether this violated the laws against torture". They think it's worse to make Trump wait than risk him torturing people.
nytimes.com
Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration’s Third-Country Deportations, for Now
The court also announced it would hear arguments in December on the legality of the Trump administration policy to swiftly deport immigrants to countries not their own.
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Connor Ewing @cmewing.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The year: 2055 My future grandchild: Grandpa, what was American politics like from 2016-2028? Me:
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We live in the absolute dumbest, dumbest, dumbest timeline.
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Miranda Yaver @mirandayaver.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Today in, Real Life or Veep?
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is where having a Secretary of Education who cares and is knowledgeable about education would be an advantage
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Spooky Back From The Dead Lazarus @jlazarus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I mean, that's because it is, in fact illegal. In fact, it's what Trump got impeached for the first time. I'd be nice if reporters could just, ya know, tell people relevant things.
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Let’s not forget the Supreme Court writing that he is above the law for all intents and purposes.
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Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I've grown quite impatient with the utter refusal of some reporters to speak directly and the overreliance on weak, nondescript words like "odd" and "interesting"
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
One of multiple occasions where Collins is mad about the perfectly predictable consequences of her votes (see also, Kavanaugh, Brett).
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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Buying into a ludicrous fantasy vision of how immigration stops function in the real world is a moral choice, not a matter of cognitive horsepower. You don’t have to be terribly bright to grasp that’s not actually how things work; you just have to care.
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is just the most recent reminder that there are few reasons to think Trump will ever handle any electoral defeat well. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/u...
nytimes.com
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Wait, what? The Trump Administration is just not paying its bills? It’s just stiffing a small airport? I’m SHOCKED, that Trump would bring his con-man tactics into government.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
China’s strategy of impassively watching Trump shit the bed looking smart
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The party of free market capitalism & limited government, folks
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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I'm pretty cynical at times but "what if a Nazi controlled much of our information and entertainment infrastructure?" stretches even my cynicism to its limits. Anyway, organizations are racial structures.
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Jim Swift @jimswift.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I'm sure the DOJ that thinks 86 47 constitutes a threat will be all over this.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
WAPO: The architect quit “after warning repeatedly that Trump was insisting on a preliminary design that did not provide adequate emergency exit routes or fire-containment measures .. .. ‘I am the code,” Trump said.” @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
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tomwellborn3rd @wellborn.net · 22/09/2026
ICE grabbed a Kentucky State basketball player at the airport because she missed a student visa deadline while recovering from back surgery. She's been shuffled through four facilities and is now sitting in Texas. Kidnapping with a badge, and it's happening every single day.
dailykos.com
New ICE horrors come to light
Unfortunately for the rest of us, Immigration and Customs Enforcement never sleeps.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
NYT has now independently corroborated all the major allegations against Susan Collins in the ProPublica report, including that investigators were prepared to move against her and then Trump intervened to shut it down. This put Trump in a position of exceptional and extortionate leverage over her.
nytimes.com
F.B.I. Shut Down Inquiry Into Top Ally of Senator Susan Collins
The inquiry was closed last year because senior bureau officials questioned the veracity of a campaign donor’s account, according to current and former officials.
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Josh Kaplan @josh-kaplan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Blockbuster story about Susan Collins — a shocking, detailed window into the dark side of money in politics.
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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“Briefly detained” = beat half to death
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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
There is nothing in the Constitution that forbids the military from storing missiles and drones in a traffic circle. So it’s hard to understand the Left’s objection to President Trump’s bold new plan for his triumphal arch. by Jonathan Turley
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Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
1) Every damn things he's built without Congressional authorization gets demolished on the first day. 2) Christ, he's like a 7-year old. "Oh yeah? Well MY arch is going to be a FORTRESS with GUNS and DRONES and LASERS, you'll be able to CONTROL THE WHOLE CITY from there."
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Next time Trump tells a reporter he deserves recognition for taking care of the Kennedy Center, I'd love for a follow up that simply asks "isn't it your job to administer the government?"
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
When an industry *asks* to be regulated, then maybe you shouldn't fall back on the standard talking points.
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
We should all recognize that the recognition you get for administering federal law is….the title of President and its associated benefits. You don’t get to use the office to hold government hostage to extract additional perks. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...
washingtonpost.com
Photo of Trump shows printout that seems to refer to Kennedy Center demolition
The image surfaced hours after the president warned that the performing arts venue could eventually be “ripped down” without his administration’s intervention. Lawyers for Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), ...
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Yeah, if I were him I would want to try to define this as someone else's legacy also.
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Tom Clark @tomsclark.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It's among the most American things that we have built a massive surveillance state but done it via private companies that the government now pays for access to the information. www.404media.co/hackers-stol...
404media.co
Hackers Stole Flock’s Camera Software, Revealing How the Company Tracks Cars and People
While people around the U.S. are tearing down Flock cameras, one group of hackers went a step further: extracting the camera's software too.
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